Yeah, though I think at the same time Metallica had part to do with that production, it was right after Cliff Burton and they were a**holes man, it is no secret they would turn Jason's bass down on him during the recording sessions... i think both the band and the producer of AJFA had equal part of making that record that way.
But the difference is, the songs on AJFA were actually really interesting, it is hard to tell because of the fact the production sucked... no clarity in the bass.. well, actually pretty much no bass... and Lars drums sounded like soup cans, and the tone on the guitars sucked....
But behind it was great songs, and interesting music... more so than anything. Looking at a list of other albums he has produced or co-produced... he is not all bad. He did Morbid Angel's "Covanent", I am not sure if you are a fan of Death Metal, but either way that album had a great production quality to it. It sounded pretty good... so that says he is a capable producer. "By Inheritance" by Artillery. Which is a great thrash metal album, it holds a pretty good rating on rate your music, so i think that speaks to the fact he has experience.. not to mention he co-produced both "Ride the Lightening" and "Master of Puppets"...
But looking at Bob Rock's stuff, he has a whole list of stuff that just wasn't that good, or else may it is just he had no experience with metal, besides Motley Crue before... but i could not give a crap about that.
I listened to the 2009 remaster of AJFA recently, and all though it is not perfect, it did improve a lot of it and made for a more listenable album, one of the few remasters that I actually felt improved the quality.
You are right though, the songs are lackluster. I can not dispute that at all. But I think it was also to do with the prodution as well... given the right one, it could of been much better.
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